Pop punk band Panic at the Disco dealt a blow to its fans this week with the announcement that lead guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker are leaving.

"Though the four of us have made music together in the past, we’ve creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve," the two departing members said in a statement. "Over the years, we have remained close and honest with each other, which helped us to realize that our goals were different and that parting ways is truly what is best for each of us."

Las Vegas-based Panic at the Disco heads out this week on the eighth annual Honda Civic Tour, playing a pair of long-sold-out shows at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre April 10-11. The 42-city, 47-date tour winds down on June 14 at Anaheim's Theatre at the Honda Center. Also appearing on the bill are Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound and Phantom Planet.

The band will be touring behind “Pretty. Odd.”, the eagerly awaited sophomore album, which has made a solid debut on this week's SoundScan/Billboard 200 album chart, entering in the #2 spot with sales of 139,000. "Pretty. Odd.”, which follows the band's RIAA platinum-certified 2005 debut, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," debuted at #1 on SoundScan's "Current Alternative Albums" chart and #2 on the "Digital Albums" chart.